Car-coupling



(No Model.)

J SHULTES.

OAR COUPLING.

No. 415,313. Patented Nov. 19,' 1889.

N PETIZRS. PhohrLllhngmphnr, Washington. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SHULTES, OF VEST BERNIE, NEW YORK.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,313, dated November 19, 1889.

Application filed September 17, 1889. Serial No. 324,172. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN SHULTEs, of \Vest Berne, in the county of Albany and State of New York,have invented new and usefullmprovements in Car-Couplers, of which the following is a full and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of a car provided with my invention, showing the parts arranged in position to receive the couplinglink of a car that is to be connected thereto. Fig. 2 is a like elevation showing the coupler containing a coupling-link in position to connect with another coupler. Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of Fig. l, and Fig. i is a partial end elevation of Fig. 2.

This invention is an improvement on the invention for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 385,731 were granted to me July 10, 1888; and the object of my present invention is to render the device more automatic and positive in its operation.

As represented in the drawings, A designates the draw-bar of my coupler, which differs from those commonly used by having its draw-head B provided with lateral checks 0, in one of which a crane-neck sliding piece D is fitted to receive a vertical movement, and the other is provided with an angle-bar E,for the purposes hereinafter explained.

F is the coupling-pin, which is connected to the upper part of the sliding piece D by means of a link 1, so as to form a loose joint at that point. Said coupling-pin is maintained in its raised position, as shown in Fig. l, by means of a dog G, which engages with a pin 2, that is inserted in the sliding piece D for that purpose. The dog G is loosely pivoted to the cheek C, in which the sliding piece D is titted to move, and said dog is provided with a pendent arm 3, to which a supplemental arm H is jointed in such manner that when pressure is applied to the outer face of said arm the latter and the dog G will move as one piece, so as to release the upper end of said dog from the pin 2 and free the sliding bar from its engagement with the dog G, and thereby permitting the sliding bar and coupling-pin to fall to their depressed position, as shown in Fig. 2. When pressure is applied to the rcarmost face of the arm H, the latter will swing freely 011 its jointpin a into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. A rearwardly-projeetingfoot 5 is formed on the lower end of the sliding piece D, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

I is the coupling-dink, which is made in the same form as those commonly used with a link-andpin coupler to enter the mortise of the draw-head B and receive the couplingpiu F.

J is an operating-lever that is fulcrulned in a jaw K, which is pivoted to a hanger L, that is attached tothe car to which my coupler is applied. The jaw K forms a swiveljoint for the lever J, so as to enable the latter to move either vertically or laterally as occasion may require. The lever J extends diagonally under the bottom of the car and its projecting end is preferably curved toward the end of the car, so as to bring it into closer proximity to the coupling-link of a car to which the one carrying said lever is to be coupled, and the extremity of the curved portion of said-lever has an upwardlyturned point 3 formed thereon, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The opposite end of the lever J is arranged to reach nearly to the side of the car, so as to be readily within reach of an operative standing by the side of the car. A pendent plate M, secured to the bottom of the car, is provided with a slotted opening N, through which the handle of said lever passes loosely, but which prevents the displacement of said lever from its required positions. Said slotted opening comprises a curved portion 8 and a vertical portion 9, the latter extending both above and below the eu rved portion, which has a free opening into the vertical portion. A swinging hook-piece 0 forms a guide for carrying the handle of the lever J during its passage through the curved portion of the slotted opening N. Said hook-piece is pivoted by the'pivot 10 to the pendent plate M, directly over the hollow side of the curved portion of the slotted opening N, and said hook-piece is provided at its lower end with a hook 11, having a shoulder 12 formed 011 its upper side, said shoulder being fitted to engage upon the handle of the lever J when said handle is at the extremity of its movement toward the end of the curved the position shown in Fig. 1.

portion of the slotted opening, and thereby the hook-piece O is positively moved from the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 into the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4, which latter position is the one normally held by said hook-piece. The upper end of the latter is provided with a counter-weight 13, for the purpose of holding the hook-piece against the stops 14:, so as to prevent an accidental displacement of said hook-piece from The angle-bar E is arranged on draw-head B in such a position that the curved portion of the 'operat ing-lever J of the coupler of a car to be connected to the one that carries said draw-head will be caught upon the inclined upper surface of said angle-bar, and by riding up on that inclination will be raised thereby, so that said lever, which will then be under a link projecting from said draw-head, will effect the raising of the coupling-link F to a horizontal position or approximately thereto, so as to enable the link to enter the mortise of the draw-head of the car that is to be coupled thereto.

My coupler operates in the following man ner: When the sliding piece D and couplingpin F are in their lower position, as shown in Fig. 2, the handle of the operating-lever J will be in the upper end of the vertical portion of the slotted opening i and the opposite end of said lever will be directly under the foot 5 of the sliding piece D. Then by de pressing the handle of the operati n g-lever to ward the'lower end of the vertical slot the opposite end of said lever will raise the sliding piece until the pin 2 engages in the upper end of the dogG, and thereby the coupling-pin F will be held in its raised position, as shown in Fig. 1. The handle of the operating-lever is then moved to the closed end of the curved portion of the slotted opening N, wherein it engages in the hook 11 of the swinging hookpiece 0, by which the frictional contact of said handle wit-h the edges of the slotted opening is avoided, and in making this movement the opposite end of the lever J will be thrown forward of the corresponding draw-head B into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1, in attaining which said lever will be brought into contact with the supplemental arm H, which will swing freely to permit said lever to make its forward movement without tripping the dog G to effect the releasei'nent of the sliding piece and its attached couplingpin. This completes themanipulation of the part of the coupler shown in Fig. 1 to arrange it in condition for the automatic coupling of the two parts of the device. The drawhead B of the coupler shown in Fig.2 has the coupling-link I projecting therefrom, and the operating-lever J is in its lowest position, the two parts of the coupler shown in Figs. 1 and 2 being arranged in position preparatory to effecting an automatic coupling of the two cars to which they are attached. Then as the two cars are brought together the projecting part of the operating-lever J attached to the car in Fig. 1 will come in contact with the inclined face of the angle-bar E of the coupler attached to the car in Fig. 2, whereby said lever will be raised to'elevate the coupling-link I into position for entering the mortise of the draw-head of the car shown in Fig. 1. Simultaneously with the rising movement of the projecting end of the operating-leverJ it will be moved by its contact with the anglebar E toward the draw-head on the sameendof the car to which it is attached, and in making this rearward movement said lever will strike the arm H, thereby moving the dog G t0.release the sliding piece D, which drops and carries the coupling-pin F into the coupling-link I to complete the coupling of the cars. As the projecting part of the operating-lever is making its rearward and upward movement the handle of said lever is moved through the curved portion of the slotted opening N toward the vertical portion of said opening, and when it enters said vertical portion it is released from restraint, and the projecting part of said lever having the greater gravity it will fall into the position shown in Fig. 2, where it will be away from interfering with the proper coupling of the device and in position ready to raise the sliding piece to effect the uncoupling of the device.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car-coupler, the combination of 'a draw-head provided with an inclined bar fitted to engage with an operating-lever of a like coupler attached to a conjoining car, a

sliding piece fitted to move vertically in said draw-head and having a coupling-pin connected thereto, the latter being fitted to slide vertically in said draw-head and to secure a coupling-link therein, a dog pivoted-to saiddraw-head and fitted to engage with said sliding piece and lock the latter in its raised position, and an operatinglever fitted to engage with the inclined bar of a like coupler on a conjoining car, and thereby effect the lifting of the coupling-link of -a conjoining JOHN SHULTES.

\Vitnesses:

\VM. H. Low, S. B. BREWER. 

